


Lichtjaren

by YaDipstick



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Healthy Relationships, Mental Instability, Past, Slow Burn, Teacher-Student Relationship, University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-06 12:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20506832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaDipstick/pseuds/YaDipstick
Summary: Lichtjaren (Light Years) - Sigma / Female reader"Lichtjaren." He mumbled, hand clasped in mine. "What did you say?" You gasped, eyes brimming with tears. He sighed, burring his face in your neck. "It would take all of the light years in the universe before I ever dreamed of leaving you."





	1. Oolong tea

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first fan-fic! I have never really written anything before, so I apologize if there are inconsistencies or issues with my writing. Any forms of criticism would be highly appreciated! Since I love the new Overwatch hero, I figured that I would base this first story on him. This story takes place in 2043, around 30ish years before present day Overwatch. Siebren is a 32 -year-old university professor, and you are a 20-year-old student, studying in the Netherlands. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for checking it out!! :-)

A gentle clap of thunder and pelting of raindrops timidly knocked on your window that morning. You tossed and turned, angry at the world for your premature alarm. Your eyes, still heavy with sleep, slowly forced themselves open and shifted to the holographic clock that hung on the wall. 5:33am. A groan and a rustling of blankets. “Too early.” You grumbled. It was an unfortunate thing to wake at such an ungodly hour, especially when you of all people struggled to fall back asleep. But alas, it appeared to be one of those mornings. The voice in the back of your head nagged you to get up. 'You have things to do today, whats the point in lazing around if you can't get any more sleep?.' You sighed and pushed yourself up, waving your intrusive thoughts away. The air around you was cold, pinpricks poking at your skin as you rose from the warmth of your bed.

Your eyes squinted, desperately trying to glance through the heavy darkness of the room. Not a smidgen of sunlight dared to peak through your curtains. The pitch emptiness didn’t last long however, as you reached across your blanket-cave to turn on the lights, small bulbs erupting to life, illuminating your cozy space.

You sat for a moment, contemplating the wall. Hung there, an enormous map of the planets, strewn with small sticky-notes and doodles of the different constellations. To its left, an enormous telescope. It lay dormant, a thin film of dust coating the obsidian colored tube. A meek smile graced your face as you studied your belongings. It had been so long since your last expedition. You hadn't seen the night sky properly in quite a number of days, what with the stress of school and the bitterness of the weather. You rose from your bed, swearing to yourself that you would make more of an effort to find time for your hobby.

Your socked feet hit the ground, thankfully unable to feel the freezing feeling that lingered there. You teetered for a second, mind momentarily stunned from your sudden change of position, before padding across the floor and going about your morning routine. A bundle of nerves rose in your stomach as you shifted through your closet, searching for an outfit to wear. Going to class was always a terrifying thing, especially when you didn't know anyone that was taking your courses. You sighed, running a hand through your tangled hair.

"Hopefully this is good enough." You grumbled, settling for a maroon sweater and a pair of jeans.

After brushing your teeth, you found yourself sat at the table, hair tied back haphazardly, oversized sweater and jeans hugging your small frame in warmth. You smiled as you reclined in your chair, a cup of tea in hand, holo-magazine in the other. Your morning muse accompanied by the gentle purring of the radio, which was easily the oldest thing you owned in the apartment. Mornings like this where always so relaxing, nobody there to nag you or tell you what to do. No screaming siblings or loud-mouthed parents. You grimaced, taking a sip of your drink, subconsciously wondering about your family back home. It had been three years since you had even talked to them. Despite your grievances, you hoped that they were doing alright.

You shook your head, and glanced down at the magazine sitting comfortably in your lap. Your gentle (E/c) eyes glanced over the article titled "First Seen HD Image of a Black Hole Taken by Local Scientist!" A smile grew on your face as you surveyed the image, stunned by the fact that such a beautifully detailed picture finally existed of one of earth's great mysteries. "Such a complex concept." You murmured under your breath, haphazardly swiping to the next page. As you surveyed the rest of the magazine, your favorite radio show announced its departure, signalling the turn of the hour. In response, overly excitable eyes perked up to look at the clock, which now read 6:55am. Still too early to disembark on your route to university, but not too late to grab breakfast. You sighed, downing the rest of your drink, and set about for your raincoat and boots.

The perks of living alone where glorious, but the lack of company definitely hit hard. A pang of loneliness stuck as you made your way down the street, rain dripping in front of your half lidded eyes, "Curse this coldness." You grumbled, pulling the collar of your sweater up over your nose. As you walked, the sun timidly revealed itself through the clouds, gently illuminating the clear puddles of water that lay scattered throughout the streets. Soon, the space around you was illuminated by the glow of your favorite cafe and like a moth to a lamp, you found yourself inside, shaking off your rain-soaked coat on to the rack.

“Y/n! Great seeing you again. The usual I presume?” Your eyes bolted upward to meet the smiling face of Johnny Hart behind the mahogany counter. “Oh hey! Yeah, that's fine with me.” You stammered, offering a small smile and a bow of your head to accompany your greeting. He smiled in return and went about placing your order. Good ol’ Johnny, an old family friend. Someone you had known for years.

You made yourself comfortable at the counter, eyes surveying the room as you did so. The usual couples and people from college populated the main floor, but a figure in your peripheral vision caught your eye. Usually you’d find yourself alone at the counter this early in the morning, but directly to your left, one seat down sat a tall gentleman, newspaper conveniently shielding his face from view. Your face scrunched up in a frown, angry with yourself that you couldn't think of who it could be. You often prided yourself on how many people you knew around town, especially in the places that you frequented. Johnny’s voice broke your concentration.  
“One hot oolong tea for (Y/n)! Your breakfast is on the way ou- Hey, are you alright?” You jumped, quickly turning to face him. Chocolate brown eyes stared back at you with slight concern, he must have got a look at your salty expression.

“O-oh! Yeah, I’m alright, just kinda zoned out for a second there. Thank you Johnny.” The worry quickly washed off of his face, replaced almost instantly with a sincere smile. “Haha, just making sure it wasn't something I said when you walked in.” You grinned and let out a chuckle, “Nothing you say could ever make me upset.” You took a sip of your drink, momentarily lost in thought.

You glanced at him again. He was wearing an impeccably kept lab coat, and you noted he had really shiny shoes. A shot of butterflies rose in your stomach. You swore that you recognized him from somewhere, but the thought of who was vacant in your sleep-deprived mind.

“Hey (Y/n), see any cool constellations recently?” You chortled, falling out of your daze for the umpteenth time this morning. “No, it's just the same old same old with the sky. In all honesty, I haven’t been out to look.” As you spoke, you felt a pair of eyes on your back, but you shook the feeling as Johnny slapped your arm playfully.

“Well, I figured I’d ask. What with you and your star obsession. What is it that you’re majoring in again?” “O-oh! Astronomy!” You gushed, blank expression immediately replaced with glee, as it usually did when you discussed your passion.

Johnny smiled, “Right, you’re crazy. I don’t know how you do it.” Before you could retaliate, he slid a hot plate of eggs, and toast under your nose. “Eat up (Y/n)! You wouldn't want that to get cold!”

You rolled your eyes as you brought the fork up to your mouth, marveling in the wonderful home cooking of the cafe. After a moment, the gentleman to your left stirred, newspaper ruffling from its great height. You snuck a peak from behind your fork. A single tuft of graying hair taunted you from behind the newspaper. Any further down and you could see his fac-

“Ah, bedankt. This coffee looks excellent.” The stranger mused, reaching forward to take a steady sip from the mug that had just been placed before him. Johnny grinned, eyes flitting in your direction “It’s my pleasure Dr. de Kuiper.” You sputtered on your drink. You couldn't believe your ignorance or your luck. Of all the places in the world that you could be at this second, you seemed to have found yourself sat next to one of the most brilliant physicists in the world.

You spun your head around and there he sat, reading glasses perched precariously on the bridge of his nose, scanning the simple black coffee held in his supple hands. His eyes where an ethereal grey, accentuated with flecks of silver. His hair, salt and peppered from years of stress, his frame, lithe and muscular. Your breath caught in your throat. Despite the laughter lines and crows feet around his eyes, he was incredibly attractive. How hadn't you seen him in this way before? You coughed, eyes quickly averting away. For some reason, your brain seemed to have stopped working properly. You knew that you recognized him from somewhere and kicked yourself for not realizing it sooner. On top of that you didn’t want to be caught staring, that would make things horribly awkward.

Dr. de Kuiper glanced over at you, face holding a jovial expression. “Hold on there! Are you alright?” You blushed furiously, awkward smile forming on your bright red face.

"O-oh, I'm ok! Just peachy." The doctor chuckled, his laughter ringing like the sound of a bell.

"Just making sure, I wouldn't want one of our fine students choking to death on a spout of oolong tea." You giggled like an idiot, fumbling with your napkin.

"That would be a rather unfortunate way to go." You mused, grinning up at him. His eyes lit up as he chortled over the exchange.

"What a wonderful morning." He stated, reaching in to his pockets for loose change. "Here you are Johnny, I'll see you in calculus." With that he stood, dwarfing the table beneath him with his immense height. His eyes lingered for a moment on you, and for a second you were sure that he winked. Your heart felt as if it had momentarily stopped, eyes widening in shock. As soon as you had saw him stand, he had gone. You turned to face Johnny. He said nothing, but had the biggest shit-eating grin on his smug face. The absolute bastard.

"Well Johnny, the food was excellent." You grumbled, reaching into your bag to pay.

"Wouldn't you say it was 'peachy?'" He teased, watching as you dug through your belongings. "Oh shut up." You groaned, preparing to hand him a fiver.

"Whoa, (Y/n) 'wacht even'! No need to, de Kuieper paid for the both of you." Your mouth fell open. "What! Why?" Johnny chuckled. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Awfully nice of him though. Anyways, you better be off. It's almost 8:00."

You stood, slightly stunned from this morning's events, your mind running a mile a minute. You collected your things, waved a goodbye and retreated into the street to head off to your first class. Being alone with your thoughts wasn't always the best combo. "Peachy?! What kind of shit response was that? He probably thinks I’m some sort of idiot!" You groaned, holding your head in your hands. “Damn you Johnny! You knew, you absolute bastard.” You angrily grumbled, flipping your wrist around to look at the time. 7:50am. A pang of reality hit you as you suddenly realized the coincidence of the encounter. You furiously tore through your backpack, searching for your schedule. Upon unfolding it with utter urgency, your stomach sunk. 8:00am, Physics class, with Siebren de Kuiper.


	2. The Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader experiences her first lecture with the legendary Siebren de Kuiper.

You found yourself outside your Physics hall with three minutes to spare, finding yourself thankful that the cafe was this close to your university's campus. Upon discovering the identity of your first period professor, you had ran as quickly as you could, not daring to be late on your first day. Before entering the lecture hall, you managed to catch a glimpse of yourself in the reflection of the door. You grimaced. There was no way in hell that you would let yourself walk into that classroom looking like that. Your hands went to work, smoothing out your baby hairs and adjusting your clothes to at least appear half-way presentable, the tips of your ears heating up as you did so. There you stood. (H/c) hair gently flowing around your hearty face, maroon sweater popping from beneath your olive green raincoat. As you saw yourself, you let loose a shaky smile, finally ready to try and abandon those feelings of anxiety, and pushed the doors open.

You tiptoed across the carpeted floor, walking past the many rows that lined the sides of the room, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself. A few heads raised to look at you, but quickly snapped back down, attention averting as quickly as it had come. As you walked, your eyes flitted around the room, searching for an open seat. There seemed to be upwards of one-hundred students residing in the spacious lecture hall, but to your horror, many of the back rows appeared to be occupied. You nervously walked down the narrow passageway, eyes anxiously scanning each and every one of the rows for an escape. Although you were prepared to put the past behind you, you still felt a tad uncomfortable with sitting right in front of him. You didn't want to embarrass yourself again. Maybe you should have come to class earlier. You could have kicked yourself, you knew that going to breakfast was a bad idea! You sighed, taking the farthest seat from the podium that you could find in the front row, slumping into the cushions and hiding your face from the world in protest. 

A sudden clang of the door alerted your senses. You turned, dread seeping over you as you looked up for the source of the noise. Bright-eyed and bouncy, Dr. de Kuiper crashed through the double-doors, arms spread wide and smile plastered on his weathered face. It was him, in all of his glory, just as wonderful as you had remembered him from this morning. Your chest tightened, and you felt a warmth spreading across your cheeks as he made his way into the hall.

He spun around, surveying the turnout of his morning lecture. “Goedemorgen class! Look at all of these smiling faces!”. He grinned and adjusted his coat before descending from the top of the stairs. “I honestly expected you all to oversleep. Nobody likes learning about physics at 8:00am except for me!” He boomed, still beaming over the crowd. You couldn't help but giggle, something about his bubbly personality seemed to get to you. You had watched nearly every webcast lecture of his, but never knew how endearing he really was in person. You were so lost in your thoughts, that you didn't notice that the doctor had glanced your way, his smile growing wider after spotting your beaming face from the crowd. Something in his chest felt pleasant to him, a feeling of warmth that he hadn’t experienced before, but he waved it away, eyes averted from your direction as he cleared his throat. 

“I despise first day cliches, so instead of boring you all with the syllabus, let's discuss something a tad more… interesting.” He mused, leaning forward on the podium, eyes narrowing as he surveyed the expressions of his students. “How about we discuss some of the material that we'll have the pleasure of learning about this year? I’m sure that you're all bursting at the seams with excitement.” A few of your fellow classmates groaned, and others simply rested their heads down on the table, too tired to focus. But the doctor paid them no mind, his attention concentrated on the handful of motivated students that sat forward in their chairs, eagerly awaiting the words that would eventually pour from his mouth.

“Since this school has a heavy focus on interplanetary exploration and space technology, this particular physics course will have a concentration in astrological functions, as many of you know after reading the syllabus.” 

He continued. “I believe that most of you are aware of my work in that particular field, so I will be more than happy to assist you with any questions or concerns that you have with the course. My office hours will be scheduled here.” He gestured to the wall, a warmhearted smile spreading across his face. “Do not hesitate to ask me, I don't bite.” You swore that his gaze had lingered on you for a tad longer than it should have, but you refused to believe it. Your eyes had already deceived you countless times during this godforsaken morning and you weren't about to let them do it again. He continued his spiel before beginning the lecture, pulling up the module on the holo-screen as he shifted his discussion to the material.

You excitedly reached for your notebook and pen, happily writing everything that he said or wrote on the board. It was too good to be true, and by the end of the lecture you where grinning from ear to ear, still in disbelief that you had the chance to learn from someone so experienced in the field. “Alright mijn studenten! It seems that we have run out of time. If you have any questions whatsoever, reach out to me! Remember, we won't meet again until Friday. Have a wonderful rest of your week!” Dr. de Kuiper said with gusto, bowing as the clatter of chairs and rustling of bags filled the room.

To your relief, the class had flown by quicker than you had expected and without any issues to boot. You smiled to yourself as you gathered your things and as you were preparing to walk up the stairs, you suddenly recalled what he had done for you that morning. How could you have forgotten? With the utmost determination, you stood up straight and marched back to the podium. 

The doctor had his back turned, clearly invested in whatever was on the table behind him, appearing slightly detached from reality. With all of the courage that you could muster, you cleared your throat. “Um… Dr. de Kuiper sir?”

“Hm?” He turned to face you and almost instantly straightened himself, beaming down at you from his great height. “Well hello again! How wonderful it is to see such a familiar face. What can I help you with?” You smiled meekly and scratched the nape of your neck nervously, a habit that you desperately had to kick. “W-well, about this morning.” You began. “I just wanted to thank you for paying for my breakfast, it was really kind of you.” 

The doctor's smile sweetened as he listened to you, glad that you had appreciated his kind gesture. “Of course. I know how tricky it can be paying for things as a dedicated university student, even if it is a minuscule amount. Every little bit counts.” He declared, elbows resting on his podium, eyes level with yours. 

You smiled genuinely at him. “Well, the world needs more people like you. By the way, I’m a very big admirer of your work” You gushed. “Dank je miss?” he raised his eyebrows at you quizzically. “I don’t think I ever got your name.” He stated, looking at you with utter seriousness. “Oh! Right, I’m (F/n). (F/n) (L/n)”

“Well miss (L/n), we need more motivated young people like you. Only then will we successfully uncover the secrets of the universe.” he stated, eyes twinkling at you like stars from distant skies. 

You felt your face redden as he finished his admiration, his words were almost like poetry. "When people like you hold an interest in my work, it motivates me to strive for greater things. I really do appreciate the support from the younger generations." "Oh of course, Its part of my passion. I'm really into space stuff." You said enthusiastically face gleaming with excitement. Your professor nodded intently. "You know what, since you're so deeply enamored by the great mysteries of space, why dont you check out this lecture?" He suggested, reaching across the podium to hand you a flyer. You read it's contents carefully. Surprisingly, It was for the museum just down the road. They where apparently holding an exhibition and workshop discussing the properties of black holes. How hadn't you heard of this sooner? "Wow, thank you! I'll look into it and make sure that I'm free." You gushed, while folding the paper neatly into your backpack. During the process, you got a glimpse of your watch. "Oh wow, is it 11:00 already?" You stammered. "I have a class in five minuets!" He frowned slightly. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you.” 

“Hey, thats not your fault, its just me and my big mouth.” You assured him, grinning as you quickly got your things together and bolted for the door. "It was a pleasure conversing with you Miss (L/n)! I'll see you back here on Friday!" He called after you as you stumbled back down the walkway. “R-right, you too! Thanks again! See yah!” You shouted back, smile stretching across your reddened cheeks. With that, you dashed from the room, and out into the pouring rain. 

You found yourself at your apartment door roughly 5 hours later, thoroughly soaked from the storm. But you couldn't care less as you turned the key and entered the warm recesses of your home. You yawned, tossing your dampened coat onto your kitchen counter. “What a crazy day.” You mumbled to yourself as you cautiously unwrapped the paper from the sandwich you had purchased for dinner, and took your first bite, eyes glancing to the large bay window fixed above your bed. The rain had calmed down slightly, the bullets of hell that had rained on you hours earlier had been reduced to tiny dribbles that hardly made a sound. You rolled your eyes, of course it had to rain the hardest when you had to be somewhere. What a damn coincidence. 

You took another bite of your food, scrolling through your social media absentmindedly as you did so. People really lived such boring lives, you found it funny how they thought it would be worth posting about such mundane dribble. You yawned, finishing up the last of your supper, figuring that it was time to prepare for sleep. You had classes early the next day anyway. Before heading right to bed you decided on showering and tending to a few tedious chores before finally clambering into your warm nest of blankets. Surprisingly, you found yourself captivated by a pleasant sleepiness, a shift from your usual late night habits. You closed your eyes, a warm smile gracing your face as you thought about your encounters from the last few hours. It was glorious, that feeling that you got while in his presence was nothing like you had felt before. Was it really just a simple case of admiration? 

You shook your head, and shifted on your pillow. There was no need to fill your head with such a ridiculous statement this late at night. You yawned, and slowly drifted off to dream-filled sleep, slowly drawing a close to one of the best days of your life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So this was rather spontaneous, I guess that I was just really motivated to write tonight and I figured that you guys deserved another chapter. :)  
For future reference, I'm not sure if I will be able to upload this quickly, so in most cases I will try and get a new chapter out once a week. Sometimes college is a tad unpredictable, and unfortunately I have to prioritize my math grade over my passion for writing. ;(  
But hey! That's life, or as Siebren would say, "Zo is het leven!" Thank you so much for reading, I hope you guys have a wonderful week! :-)


End file.
